how to say “I admit” in Hebrew
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מודה-ב-1.m4a” /]אֲנִי מוֹדֶה בְּ…
A few weeks ago we saw that the Hebrew term for Thanksgiving is חג ההודיה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מודה-ב-2.m4a” /]. The word הודיה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מודה-ב-3.m4a” /] means thanks as in to give thanks, whereas the simple expression thanks! is !תודה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מודה-ב-4.m4a” /].
הודיה is derived from the verb להודות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מודה-ב-5.m4a” /], whose root is ה.ד.ה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מודה-ב-6.m4a” /]. You can get an idea of how to conjugate the verb here. One of the meanings of להודות is indeed to thank, for example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מודה-ב-7.m4a” /]אני מודה לך על המילים היפות.
I (a male) thank you (a female) for the kind (pretty) words.
But להודות also means to acknowledge or to admit, for example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מודה-ב-8.m4a” /]היא מודה באשמה.
She admits her (the) guilt.
Note that the preposition …ב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מודה-ב-9.m4a” /] follows מודה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מודה-ב-10.m4a” /] (feminine) or מודה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מודה-ב-11.m4a” /] (masculine) when it means admit or acknowledge.
What is the connection between thanking and admitting? Both involve acknowledging a fact, though in different ways.
